Yaroslava Mahuchikh wins Ukraine’s 1st individual gold of Olympics

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — It was a night for war-torn Ukraine to rejoice.

Thousands of Ukrainians watched on YouTube as high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh won gold for the country she was forced to flee, then celebrated with two teammates who also medaled at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.

Iryna Gerashchenko shared bronze in the high jump and Mykhaylo Kokhan then claimed a bronze in the hammer throw, too — doubling Ukraine’s Olympic medal haul from three to six in the span of about an hour.

“Medals are very important for Ukraine because the people are having a very happy time, and they can cheer us and they can celebrate this with us and not think about the war for one day,” Kokhan said.

Mahuchikh, who left her home due to the war with Russia, earned Ukraine’s first individual gold of these Summer Games, following a victory in women’s team saber fencing on Saturday.

She is from Dnipro, a city of nearly 1 million located only about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the front lines of the war. When Russia invaded, she piled as much as she could into her car and left town quickly. On her way out, she heard gunfire and could, at times, see shells raining down miles away.

The next time she returns, it will be as an Olympic champion.

Once the medals were assured, Mahuchikh and Gerashchenko ran down the track waiving Ukrainian flags, prompting a standing ovation at the Stade de France.

Then, when the two high jumpers were given special permission to run over and embrace Kokhan, all three Ukrainian medalists posed together with their blue and yellow flags.

It wasn’t all about celebrating, though. Mahuchikh also recalled the “almost 500 sportsman (who) died in this war.

“They will never compete. They will never celebrate. They will never feel this atmosphere,” she said, adding that her gold medal is “really for all of them.”

Catch up on the latest from Day 10 of the 2024 Paris Olympics:

Mahuchikh succeeds Tokyo gold medalist Maria Lasitskene, a Russian who — along with everyone else from her country — has been banned from track and field’s international events since the country invaded Ukraine.

Russian rockets and missiles constantly knock out Ukraine’s power grid. But Gerashchenko said that the electricity was working on Sunday,

“Today we have internet, we have light and on the YouTube channel, around 160,000 people (watched) online,” she said.

Mahuchikh cleared 2.00 meters to finish ahead of Nicola Olyslagers of Australia, who also cleared 2.00 but then failed all three of her attempts at 2.02.

Eleanor Patterson of Australia and Gerashchenko shared the bronze at 1.95.

Mahuchikh considered jumping again and could have tried to break the world record of 2.10 that she set less than a month ago in another Paris stadium. But then she stopped and started celebrating.

Mahuchikh was asked why she didn’t make any further attempts.

“Why not? I was Olympic champion,” she said.

Mahuchikh also gained curiosity for the way she lies down and wraps herself up in a type of sleeping bag between jumps. She said it helps her relax: “Sometimes I can watch the clouds…not think about that I’m at a stadium.”

Mahuchikh claimed the first Olympic gold of her career, adding to the bronze she won in Tokyo. She also won gold at last year’s world championships.

“It’s all medals for our country, Ukraine, for our defenders,” she said. “Only thank(s) (to) them we have opportunity to be here.”